Credit Connect

The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) has published lending volume figures for its nine-member platforms for the first three months of 2017. The associations says ” the figures underscore the continued development of the sector with the maintenance of impressive expansion in lending volumes and investor participation.”

With cumulative levels of lending at almost £8.5 billion, P2PFA platforms facilitated the origination of in excess of £1 billion during the first three months of 2017 – with more than 180,000 investors participating at the end of the period as well as 420,095 borrowers.

Commenting on the data, Robert Pettigrew, Director of the P2PFA, said: ‘The growth in peer-to-peer lending volumes over the last three months highlights the success which platforms have secured in the market – delivering a permanent shift in the financial services landscape, and providing an attractive offering for investors and borrowers.”

“At a time when macroeconomic uncertainty appears to be the prevailing narrative, more than £600 million has been lent to businesses through peer-to-peer platforms in the last three months, with almost thirty-seven thousand businesses having a loan at the end of the period. It is clear that the ability of platforms to provide an offering responsive both to the aspirations of investors and the needs of borrowers has enabled a consistent pattern of growth which any sector would find attractive.”

“The Government has repeated its aspiration to consolidate the United Kingdom as the centre of global FinTech; undoubtedly, the growth of peer-to-peer lending represents a key part of that story of success, and one which promises to continue serving the needs of the economy, broadening access to investor returns as well as access to finance, and delivering competition in the wider financial services ecosystem to the benefit of consumers and the broader market.”